MT. CARMEL ENDS DREAM SEASON NO. 1

The rain started coming down in sheets moments after Mt. Carmel finished its ''dream'' season with a 21-7 victory Saturday over East St. Louis Senior to claim the Class 6A state title.

As a team, the Caravan players ignored the downpour and headed over to the visitors` stands at Illinois State University, where they cavorted with their families, friends and fans in a scene strangely reminiscent of a rain-soaked celebration that occurred only two weeks ago in Gately Stadium.

That was the memorable night Mt. Carmel found itself facing two options:

1) drive 93 yards in the final minutes and beat No. 1-ranked Homewood-Flossmoor, or 2) turn in their uniforms for the year.

As most local high school football fans know by now, the Caravan came through in miracle fashion that evening to stave off elimination, winning by one point on a tipped pass in the end zone after time had expired.

The Caravan (14-0) didn`t need any such miracles to knock off East St. Louis. All the team needed was a solid defensive effort and a few big plays from its offense to avenge last year`s 19-7 semifinal loss to the Flyers.

''After that H-F game, we came back to school and some kids said to me,

`This is our year. This is our destiny.` And the dream came true.''

The two unbeatens played a scoreless first quarter, but Mt. Carmel drove 77 yards on 13 plays at the outset of the second, scoring on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Danny Miller (8 of 13 for 109 yards) at the eight-minute mark.

Marty Schumacher (11 tackles) and the Caravan defense stopped the Flyers cold on their next possession, and one play after the East St. Louis punt, tailback Nairobi Allen (193 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries) broke off left tackle and scampered 53 yards for the touchdown to increase the lead to 14-0. Lenti said he knew Allen was history as soon as he shook off the last Flyer defender some 40 yards from the goal line.

''In the four years I`ve been watching Nairobi,'' Lenti said, ''I`ve never seen anyone catch him from behind.''

East St. Louis (13-1) bounced back after a missed field goal by Carmel`s Mark Norville with 2:04 left in the half. Flyers quarterback Vernon Powell (11 of 29 for 166 yards) took his teammates downfield in a flash, pulling to within seven points on an 18-yard TD pass to Cecil ''Pee Wee'' Hawkins with 10 seconds left.

After Miller threw an interception on the Caravan`s opening possession of the third quarter, and Powell drove the Flyers 57 yards to the Mt. Carmel 21, it appeared that East St. Louis was poised for a comeback of its own.

But the Mt. Carmel defense stiffened again, and linebacker Matt Yaeger batted down a fourth-down pass by Powell to turn the ball over on downs. Three plays later, Allen took the wind out of the Flyers with a 62-yard TD run that put the game out of reach for good at 21-7.

Outstanding blocking on the part of Bart Newman, Dan McGuire and the rest of the Caravan offensive line led to 309 rushing yards for Mt. Carmel, which garnered an astounding 418 total yards against the bulky Flyers defense.

Newman, who finished his career as the all-time Caravan leader in games played, said the team needed no motivational speeches to get up for East St. Louis: ''There wasn`t much that needed to be said. Last year we came so close, and we saw how the seniors were crushed. And we knew how it felt to lose coming so close after `86 (a 5A title game loss to Wheaton North). I really felt then that we were the best team that year.''

For East St. Louis coach Bob Shannon, whose Flyers lost in the 6A title game for the second straight year, it was a depressing feeling of deja vu.

''I told the guys all week, the game would be won at the line of scrimmage,'' Shannon said. ''They definitely controlled it and deserved to win.

''Maybe we`ve gotten fat. Maybe we think when we get here it`s easy. It never was a problem for us until the last couple years. Now this has become the hurdle.''

Allen, one of a half-dozen Caravan players who seemed to take turns being ''hero of the day'' in the playoffs, ironically lives in Homewood-Flossmoor`s school district. When asked why he chose Mt. Carmel over the school the Caravan eventually ousted in the quarterfinals, Allen simply shrugged his shoulders.